On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive No. 21 of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, which received the code name “Option Barbarossa” and became the main guiding document in the war against the USSR. The German armed forces were tasked with “defeating Soviet Russia in one short campaign”, for which it was intended to use all ground forces except those performing occupation functions in Europe, as well as approximately two-thirds of the Air Force and a small part of the Navy. By means of rapid operations with deep and rapid advance of tank wedges, the German army was to destroy the Soviet troops in the western part of the USSR and prevent the retreat of combat-ready units into the interior of the country. Subsequently, quickly pursuing the enemy, the German troops were to reach a line from which the Soviet aviation would be unable to carry out raids on the Third Reich. The ultimate goal of the campaign was to reach the Arkhangelsk – Volga – Astrakhan line, creating there, if necessary, conditions for the German Air Force to “influence the Soviet industrial centers in the Urals”.

On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive No. 21 of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, which received the code name “Option Barbarossa” and became the main guiding document in the war against the USSR. The German armed forces were tasked with “defeating Soviet Russia in one short campaign”, for which it was intended to use all ground forces except those performing occupation functions in Europe, as well as approximately two-thirds of the Air Force and a small part of the Navy. By means of rapid operations with deep and rapid advance of tank wedges, the German army was to destroy the Soviet troops in the western part of the USSR and prevent the retreat of combat-ready units into the interior of the country. Subsequently, quickly pursuing the enemy, the German troops were to reach a line from which the Soviet aviation would be unable to carry out raids on the Third Reich. The ultimate goal of the campaign was to reach the Arkhangelsk – Volga – Astrakhan line, creating there, if necessary, conditions for the German Air Force to “influence the Soviet industrial centers in the Urals”.